Commentary: The odds are better than 50/50 in favor of Hillary Clinton, if she ends up running against Donald Trump in the November general election; at least that’s what some polls are telling us.
There are myriad scenarios yet to play out in this 2016 presidential race, but now that Hillary Clinton has won a commanding share of delegates for the Democratic nomination, stop and think about another Clinton White House.
Start thinking about some, well, profound implications … historically, politically, socially or otherwise.
Look at some of the facts if she is elected:
- The first woman president
- The first former First Lady to become Commander in Chief
- The first former President to serve as the first-ever First Husband, First Man, or whomever
Then, place some interpretation to the facts:
- A family political dynasty that would, minimally, equal the 12 years of White House occupation by the Bush family
- But a dynasty differentiated by a husband-wife, not a father-son, dynamic
Looking further out on the timeline of outcomes not yet described anywhere:
- Chelsea Clinton’s entry into elective politics, regardless of whether Mom might be a one- or two-term president
But wait, we still have some hurdles to clear, starting with Bernie Sanders.
A lot more voters, mainly younger ones, are feeling the Bern than Hillary would care for. They see her as part of the establishment, part of the problem.
She may well win the nomination, but there’s the e-mail security investigation and threat of indictment still unresolved… one that could spill over into the general election.
Or, a third-party candidate might emerge that would directly impact her.
It could be Bernie Sanders, who is really an Independent and not a Democrat, who ends up taking votes away from Clinton in November.
Next, let’s do some editorializing:
Did the Founding Fathers intend on seeing families of privilege dominate the White House?
We saw it happen with the Bush family, but today Jeb fell far short of the extending the run to a third member of the family.
We might have seen it with the Kennedy family, had it not been for assassinations.
The only other family name that comes to mind in this context is Roosevelt, but Teddy and Franklin had multiple degrees of separation.
Unlike these other, more patrician-like families of power, the Clintons are political nouveau-riche.
What could be described as “Clinton, Incorporated” has profited handsomely, thanks to books, speakers bureaus, foundations and other money-making ventures enabled by Bill and Hillary’s lives in public service.
Chappaqua, a New York City suburb, is where they make their home. It’s one of the wealthiest zip codes in America. The Bernie Sanders faction is acutely aware of this.
Thanks to their successes, and for that matter, their failures, Clinton, Inc. is now a brand name.
Suddenly, for me, the classic story of an American political clan, the Edwin O’Connor book “All in the Family,” comes back to mind.
The Clinton brand is all about family.
Family at any cost, even marital infidelity, speaks volumes.
We all know how Hillary tolerated not one, but a repeated series of indiscretions by Bill before and during his White House tenure.
After seeing the couple’s desperate plea on 60 Minutes to save Bill’s presidential campaign before his first term, we began to wonder about Hillary.
Is that about forgiveness, or career ambition?
As subjective as the question may seem, it helps further inform the essence of the word “politician” and the definition of the term “career politician.”
The truth in our society today is that most spouses would blow off their cheating husband or wife after giving them a second or even third chance.
With as much as she’s invested in leveraging her husband’s brand into her own, who can blame her for forging ahead?
This is a business, not a personal, decision.
Now that Hillary has served in the U.S. Senate and as Secretary of State, and now that she’s been through one of her own presidential campaigns, she’s once again the Democratic front-runner.
In presidential elections, the sad reality has come down to our voting for the “lesser of two evils.”
Unfortunately, this time around, it’s not that clear cut.
Under a new Clinton administration, it appears regular folks would continue to struggle paying the $10,000 annual deductible permitted by Obama’s health care reform, for example.
Affordable access to doctors would continue to be a problem, because Hillary intends on continuing this, and other Obama policies.
If we don’t change direction, what happens to solving other key questions like seeing growth in higher-paying jobs, expanding the shrinking middle class, revitalizing a sluggish economy, financing Social Security, balancing the budget, reducing the national debt and student loan debt, dealing with our relationships: Israel, Putin, Isis, Iran, Syria, and so many others?
Place all of this in context before voting in November. Think twice.
For the Clinton family, it’s about politics and power in the name of the general good and public service.
For this country, it’s about extending the career of another career politician.
About the Author
As a former New England correspondent for NPR’s All Things Considered and as the former Massachusetts State House reporter for NPR member station WBUR-FM in Boston, Kadzis covered the late Senator Ted Kennedy and his failed campaign to wrest the presidency from Jimmy Carter, as well as other key politicians at the time including Governor Michael Dukakis, then-State Representatives Barney Frank and Andrew Card, and the Federal District Court.